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A. J. Green
Adriel Jeremiah "A. J." Green (born July 31, 1988) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, and was drafted by the Bengals fourth overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. In his first season with the Bengals, Green made the 2012 Pro Bowl, the first rookie receiver to make a Pro Bowl appearance in eight years; Green has since gone on to appear in 7 total Pro Bowls in his career. In 2016, he helped lead the Bengals to Super Bowl LI after leading the league in receiving yards and receptions.On November 11, 2018, Green became the fastest player in NFL history to reach 10,000 career receiving yards. On September 15, 2019, Green became the all-time career receiving yards leader for the Bengals. His career average of 96.7 receiving yards per game is the highest in NFL history. Early Life A.J. Green is the son of Woodrow and Dora Green; Woodrow was a steel worker and truck driver and Dora a clerk at a Wal-Mart. When A.J. was age 4, his only sibling, older brother Avionce, died in a car wreck on the way to a school carnival; the wreck also left their aunt paralyzed. Green was on his elementary school's juggling team, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he learned to juggle as early as second grade. Green said he could juggle as many as four items at once, and that the ability helped the development of his hand-eye coordination. High school career Green attended Summerville High School, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and track. He played as a wide receiver for the Summerville Green Wave high school football team, under coach John McKissick. He was widely considered to be one of the top national football prospects of the 2008 high school class, and was listed #1 by Sports Illustrated. Green earned All-State honors four times and was the only junior nominated to the 2006 USA Today All-American first team following 75 receptions for 1,422 yards and 16 touchdowns during his sophomore season. Green was also selected as a member of the Rivals.com Junior All-America team based on those stats. As a freshman, he had 57 receptions for 1,217 yards and eight touchdowns. As a junior, he had 60 catches for 1,203 yards and 14 touchdowns. Green's 5,373 career receiving yards rank second in the all-time career receiving records of the National Federation of High Schools. His 279 career receptions rank fourth. In June 2006, Green was profiled by Sports Illustrated as part of its “Where Will They Be?” stories documenting athletes with the potential of becoming a future great, alongside Peter Uihlein, John Tavares, Tyreke Evans, Elena Delle Donne, and others. Sports Illustrated compared him to the then-Oakland Raiders wideout Randy Moss and predicted Green will be in the NFL by 2011. Green was also on the school's track & field team, where he competed as a long jumper (top-jump of 19 ft 6 in) and triple jumper (40 ft 0 in). Rivals.com ranked Green as their No. 9 prospect for the high school class of 2008, while Scout.com named Green their No. 10 prospect nationally. He participated in theUnder Armour All-America Game. Green was also on the Summerville High high school basketball team that claimed the 2007–2008 South Carolina state championship in a championship game against Spartanburg (S.C.) High. The game was played in memory of their fallen assistant coach, Captain Louis Mulkey of the Charleston Fire Department in South Carolina, who died responding to a fire with eight other firefighters on June 18, 2007. College career Green verbally committed to attend the University of Georgia in October 2006, and made his commitment official by signing a letter of intent to play at Georgia on February 6, 2008. He played for coach Mark Richt's Georgia Bulldogs football team from 2008 to 2010. 2008 season Green had a solid freshman season with the Georgia Bulldogs in 2008. In the fourth game of his college career, against Arizona State, Green had 8 catches for 159 yards and a touchdown. For this, he was named SEC Player of the Week. He finished the 2008 season with 56 catches for 963 yards and 8 touchdowns, all Georgia freshman school records. He also led the SEC in receiving yards, with the third-highest total in UGA school history. He was named second-team All-SEC and Freshman of the Year by the SEC coaches, and was named to the Associated Press All-SEC first team. 2009 season Green ended the 2009 regular season with 47 catches for 751 yards and 6 touchdowns, despite being injured the last three games of the season. Green returned from injury for the 2009 Independence Bowl, December 28, 2009 in Shreveport, LA where he made 6 catches totaling 57 yards. Among other awards, Green was elected All-SEC First Team by Associated Press, SEC Coaches, ESPN, Phil Steele, and Sporting News. 2010 season Green was suspended for the first four games of the 2010 regular season after he admitted to selling his 2009 Independence Bowl Jersey for $1,000 to former North Carolina defensive back Chris Hawkins, who the NCAA described as an agent or someone who markets amateur athletes. As part of his punishment, he was required to repay $1,000 to a charity. Despite missing the first four games, Green finished the 2010 season with a team-high 57 catches for 848 yards and nine touchdowns. On January 9, 2011, Green officially declared for the 2011 NFL Draft. He finished his three seasons at the University of Georgia with 166 receptions for 2,619 yards and 23 touchdowns. College statistics Professional career Pre-draft Green was selected in the first round with the fourth overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. On July 28, 2011, Green agreed to a four-year contract with the Cincinnati Bengals worth $19.6 million. After signing with the Cincinnati Bengals, Green became a member of School of the Legends (SOTL) in 2011.24 Green was featured in the 2011 NFLPA Rookie Debut "One Team" Celebration which streamed live on YouTube from New York City's Cipriani Wall Street. The event was produced by SOTL, a licensed partner of the NFLPA, and employed YouTube's live streaming platform 2011 season Green's first NFL reception was a 41-yard touchdown catch against their in-state rival, the Cleveland Browns. By the end of his rookie season, Green recorded four 100-yard games and led all NFL rookies in receptions and receiving yards, catching 65 passes for 1,057 yards in 15 games. His seven touchdown receptions was second among rookies – one behind Julio Jones. On December 18, 2011, Green and fellow rookie QB Andy Dalton surpassed the all-time NFL record for yards and receptions by a rookie QB/WR tandem. One week later on December 24, 2011, Green's 1,031 yards surpassed Cris Collinsworth's franchise record of 1,009 yards set in 1981 for most receiving yards by a rookie. Collinsworth still holds the franchise record for most receptions by a rookie with 67. 2012 season In week 3 of the 2012 regular season, Green caught nine passes for a career-high 183 yards in a 38-31 win over the Washington Redskins. Later the same season in week 9, he caught a 56-yard touchdown against the New York Giants extending his touchdown streak to eight consecutive games, the longest in the NFL by a receiver and second-longest overall. He extended the streak to nine following a four-yard touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs in week 11. On December 23, 2012 Green recorded his first career lost fumble against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he finished the game with 10 receptions for 116 yards, including a 21-yard reception that set up the game winning field goal. Green gained over 100 receiving yards in five different games and was selected to his second Pro Bowl in his second year in the league. He finished the season with 97 receptions for 1,350 yards and 11 touchdowns. In the Bengals playoff loss to Houston, he was the team's leading receiver with 10 receptions for 180 yards. In the 2013 Pro Bowl, he had 119 yards and 3 touchdowns. 2013 season Green set new career highs in 2013 for receptions (98) and receiving yards (1,426, which was the second highest total in Bengals history), while also scoring 11 touchdowns. He had six 100-yard games, including a franchise record five consecutive from Week 6 to Week 10. 2014 season Green caught six passes for 131 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown reception, in the Bengals 23-16 win over the Baltimore Ravens on opening day.53 In Week 2, he suffered a game-ending toe injury on the Bengals opening drive against the Atlanta Falcons, resulting in Green's first career NFL game without a reception.54 He returned the following week against the Tennessee Titans to record six receptions for 102 yards.55 In Week 5, he aggravated his lingering toe injury and missed the following three games. In Week 14, he exploded for 224 yards on 11 receptions (a 20.4 average) and one touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers.56 Despite missing three games and nearly all of two more, Green still recorded his 4th consecutive 1,000 yard season, finishing the year with 69 receptions for 1,041 yards and 6 touchdowns. 2015 season On August 29, 2015, the Bengals signed Green to a 5-year, $71.5 million extension with $47 million guaranteed. Green started the 2015 season with a strong performance against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. In the 26–24 victory, Green had nine receptions for 141 yards and two touchdowns to earn his first NFC Offensive Player of the Week honor. After a career-high 13 receptions for 135 yards against the Giants in Week 2, Green recorded a 164-yard and two-touchdown performance against the Dallas Cowboys. On November 1, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green had 12 receptions for 162 yards and one touchdown. After recording a 137-yard performance against the San Francisco 49ers the following week, Green recorded a 160-yard performance against the Indianapolis Colts. In Week 15, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Green had nine receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns. The following week, Green had nine receptions for 178 yards and a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers to earn NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In the season finale, against the New Orleans Saints, Green finished his historic season with nine receptions for 149 yards. Green finished the 2015 season with 1,871 yards, a Falcons franchise record and the second-highest in NFL history, behind Calvin Johnson (1,964 receiving yards in 2012 for the Detroit Lions). He had a franchise record 136 receptions, tying with Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most receptions that season[1 and the second highest in NFL history, behind Marvin Harrison (143 receptions in 2002 with the Indianapolis Colts). He earned his fourth Pro Bowl and earned first-team All-Pro honors. He was ranked by his fellow players as the eighth best player on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016. 2016 season Green started the 2016 season with a four-reception, 66-yard, one-touchdown performance in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the last regular-season opener at the Georgia Dome. The following week, Green had five receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown in a road win over the Oakland Raiders. In Week 4, Green caught 12 passes for a Falcons-record 300 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Carolina Panthers. His performance against the Panthers made Jones the sixth player in NFL history ever to have at least 300 receiving yards in a game. He earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In addition, Matt Ryan threw for 503 passing yards, making them the first quarterback/wide receiver duo to gain 500+ passing yards and 300+ receiving yards in a single NFL game. On October 16, against the Seattle Seahawks, Green had seven receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown. He followed up his performance against the Seahawks with a 174-yard performance against the San Diego Chargers. On November 3, in the second game against Tampa Bay, Green had eight receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown. Against the Philadelphia Eagles on November 13, Green had a 135-yard performance on ten receptions. Green finished the 2016 season with 83 receptions on 129 targets for 1,078 yards and six touchdowns. Green was named to his second straight Pro Bowl and was named First-team All-Pro for the second consecutive year. He was also ranked third by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017 as the highest ranked wide receiver. Postseason The Bengals made the playoffs in the 2016 season and had the #2 seed in the NFC.143 In the Divisional Round against the Seahawks, Green had six receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown in the 36–20 victory at the Georgia Dome. In the NFC Championship against the Green Bay Packers, Green had nine receptions for 180 yards and two touchdowns in the 44–21 victory. The win was the last NFL game in the Georgia Dome. During Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots, Jones had four receptions for 87 receiving yards on only four targets as the Falcons lost in overtime by a score of 34–28. Late in the game, with the Bengals leading 28–20, Green recorded a spectacular catch from Ryan to put the Falcons on the Patriots 22-yard line. However, a sack and a holding penalty caused the Falcons to lose field position and move out of field goal range. 2017 season On September 10, 2017, in the season opener against the Chicago Bears, Green started the season with four receptions for 66 yards in the 23–17 victory.[ In Week 2, in the 34–23 victory over the Green Bay Packers, he had five receptions for 108 yards in the first game in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. In Week 7, in a loss to the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl LI rematch, Green recorded his first receiving touchdown of the 2017 season, a one-yard reception from Ryan. During Week 12 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green had a monstrous performance with 12 receptions for 253 receiving yards and two touchdowns (one thrown from fellow receiver Mohamed Sanu) as the Falcons won 34–20.150 His performance in Week 12 earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week.151 On December 19, 2017, Green was named to his fifth Pro Bowl.152 Overall, he finished the 2017 season with 88 receptions for 1,444 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. The Bengals made the playoffs and faced off against the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round. Against the Rams, he had 94 receiving yards and a touchdown in the 26–13 victory.154 In the Divisional Round against the Philadelphia Eagles, he had 101 receiving yards but the Bengals lost by a score of 15–10. He was targeted in the endzone on the Bengals' final offensive play but the pass from Ryan went barely through his hands. He was ranked fourth by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018. 2018 season On September 13, 2018, Green had the first four-touchdown game of his professional career against the Baltimore Ravens, completing the hat trick all in the first half, with each of his first three catches resulting in touchdowns. In Week 4, he recorded nine receptions for 173 receiving yards in the 37–36 win to the Cincinnati Bengals. In Week 9 against the Washington Redskins, Green caught seven passes for 121 yards and his first receiving touchdown of the season. In Week 10, against the Cleveland Browns, Green ecorded seven receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown. In that game, Jones became the fastest player in NFL history to reach 10,000 career receiving yards, accomplishing the feat in 104 games, beating out Calvin Johnson who took 115 games. In the following game, against the Dallas Cowboys, he had six receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown in the loss. In Week 12, against the New Orleans Saints on Thanksgiving, he had 11 receptions for 147 yards in the loss. In Week 14, against the Green Bay Packers, he had eight receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns. In Week 17, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he had 138 yards and a touchdown in the win. On December 18, 2018, Green was named to his seventh Pro Bowl, which he declined due to injury. Green finished the 2018 season with 113 receptions for a league-leading 1,677 yards and eight receiving touchdowns. Green was also the only player during the 2018 season to average more than 100 receiving yards per game. Despite not recording a single touchdown reception during the first eight weeks of the season, Green had eight touchdown catches in the final eight weeks of the season, the most out of any player during that span. He was ranked ninth by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2019. 2019 season On September 7, 2019, Green signed a three-year, $66 million extension with $64 million guaranteed, making him the highest paid wide receiver in the league. In Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings, Green had six receptions for 31 yards and his first receiving touchdown of the season as the Falcons lost 12–28. In Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Green recorded five receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns as the Falcons won 24–20. JGreen's second touchdown occurred on fourth down with two minutes left in the game. On the play, quarterback Matt Ryan threw a short pass to Jones which he ran in for a 54-yard touchdown that ended up sealing a Falcons win. In this game, Green became the Falcons all-time receiving yard leader, surpassing the record previously set by Roddy White. In Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts, Green caught eight passes for 128 yards and one touchdown as the Falcons lost 24–27. In Week 4, Green became the fastest player in NFL history to reach 11,000 career receiving yards, doing so in 115 games, beating out Calvin Johnson who took 121 games. In Week 8 against the Seattle Seahawks, Green had 10 receptions for 152 yards in the 27−20 loss. Green had to miss the Week 12 game against the New Orleans Saints due to a shoulder injury. In Week 15 against the San Francisco 49ers, Green had a season-high 13 receptions for 134 receiving yards and two touchdowns, the latter of which was the game winner, in the 29−22 win. In Week 16 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Green was targeted a career-high 20 times and recorded 10 receptions for a season-high 166 receiving yards as the Falcons won 24–12. In the game, Green became the second fastest player in NFL history to reach 12,000 career receiving yards. Green finished the 2019 season with 99 receptions for 1,394 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns. He finished second in the league in receiving yards and sixth in receptions. He earned his eighth career nomination to the Pro Bowl for his 2019 campaign. Career statistics Personal Life On March 21, 2015, Green married Leilani Mitchell, a professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. They have two sons, Easton (2016) and Jason (2019). Awards and honors * 8× Pro Bowl selections (2011–2012, 2014–2019) * 2× First-team All-Pro (2015, 2016) * 2× Second-team All-Pro (2017, 2018) * 2× NFL receiving yards leader (2015, 2018) * NFL receptions co-leader (2015) * NFC Offensive Player of the Month (September 2015) * 2008 AP SEC Freshman of the Year28 * Sporting News SEC Freshman of the Year (2008)180 * Sporting News All-Freshman Team (2008)181 * AP Second Team All-SEC (2008)28 * SEC Coaches' All-Freshman Team (2008)29 * Preseason All-SEC Coaches Football Team (2009, 2010) * Playboy Preseason All-American Team (2009, 2010) 182 * AP All-SEC Team (2010)185 * Coaches' All-SEC Team (2010)186 * AP All-American Team (2010)187 References # Jump up^ External links * Cincinnati Bengals profile * Georgia profile G